11/28/2011

Police Break Up Nuclear Protest of Thousands

BERLIN (AP) — German police officers cleared a sit-in of thousands of protesters trying to block a train carrying nuclear waste and temporarily detained 1,300 people on Sunday, officials said.

Hundreds of officers started removing protesters from the rails near Dannenberg in northern Germany in the morning, said a police spokesman, Stefan Kühm-Stoltz. Those who resisted were detained at the site for several hours, but all were released by late afternoon.

The police put the number of protesters at 3,500, while organizers said 5,000 people had occupied the tracks, the final stretch for the train. Trucks were to take the shipment, which was reprocessed in France, the remaining 12 miles to a storage site in the town of Gorleben.

Activists say the waste containers and the temporary storage site are not safe.

The police also clashed with two groups of protesters who hurled stones and fireworks.

Sixteen officers were injured, bringing the total since Friday to 51, the police said.

According to activists, about 150 people were injured as the police broke up some protests with tear gas and batons, the German news agency DAPD reported.